230 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



be in the habit of dragging their middle toes over the ground at each step. 

 as evidenced by the tracks in the case of the Willow Ptarmigan, 



W. Sprague Brooks (1915) says: 



The males are quite pugnacious, when in flocks, often pursuing each other 

 and going through antics suggesting the young males of domestic fowls. 



Rock Ptarmigan exhibit considerable curiosity at times, a trait I have not 

 noticed in the Willow Ptarmigan. When one of its kind is dead or wounded 

 the rest frequently show great concern and interest in the unfortunate one. 



Many times while walking over the tundra I would be startled by the 

 rattling call of a male Rock Ptarmigan, and turning about see him alight within 

 a few yards of me with tail spread and eye wattles erect. After strutting about 

 and "showing off" a moment he would busy himself searching for food as 

 though no man were in the country. In the winter plumage the males are 

 very beautiful. 



Voice. — Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) came across a pair of these birds 

 near St. Michael, of which he writes : 



They allowed me to approach within 20 feet, and paid no attention beyond 

 looking curiously at me as I walked slowly along. The suspicion of the male 

 being slightly excited, he uttered a low, rolling or whirring sound, like that 

 produced by rolling the end of the tongue. The female answered with a low, 

 clear yop-yop, with a peculiar intonation, strikingly like that of the female hen- 

 turkey, except it was much lower. When we were about 15 feet from the birds, 

 they stood looking at us for a moment with a pretty air of innocent curiosity, 

 and then, without showing the slightest signs of alarm, arose and flew off to the 

 hill-side, a hundred yards or more away. 



Migrations. — Nelson says of their migratory movements : 



During the entire year these birds are resident north at least to Bering 

 Straits, as I obtained specimens from that vicinity on one of my winter expe- 

 ditions. In summer it extends still beyond this, to all portions of the country 

 crossed by mountain chains and hills. In autumn, toward the last of October 

 and first of November, this bird unites with the common Ptarmigan in great 

 flocks, on the northern shore of Norton Sound, and migrates thence across the 

 sound to Stuart's Island, thence reaching the mainland. The birds are fre- 

 quently seen by the natives while they are passing Egg Island, on their way to 

 the island just mentioned. They are said to commence their flight just before 

 dark in the evening, and at this season, as mentioned under the preceding spe- 

 cies, many are snared at the head of Norton Bay. In April the birds return 

 to the north, always traveling in the evening or night, as they do during their 

 autumnal migrations. 



LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS EVERMANNI Elliot 



EVERMANN'S PTARMIGAN 

 HABITS 



The well-marked subspecies evermanni, the darkest colored of all 

 the ptarmigans, the males being almost black, is confined to Attu 

 Island, the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands, 1,400 miles west of 



